Chafing dishes are useful in keeping food warm for extended periods of time and in various food service settings. For example, chafing dishes are widely used in buffet style services which may include the service of brunches, hot appetizers and the like. Additionally, chafing dishes are quite portable, adapting them for use in both indoor and outdoor settings and wherever food items require continuous warming.
Chafing dishes have always required a heat source to maintain the food held within the dish at a desired temperature. The most common, if not the exclusive heat source used in association with the chafing dish has been the open flame from a methanol based fuel commercially available in small cans under the Trademark "Sterno". However, the use of combustible fuel has posed several problems. For example, the heat produced by an open flame heat source drops drastically when the fuel level drops to 50% or less. This inherent shortcoming in the use of fuel based heating leads to a significant waste of fuel and provides, at best, an inefficient and economically wasteful heating process.
Additionally, the commonly used fuel is obviously very flammable and can pose a serious fire hazard if proper safety precautions are not constantly employed. Flammable materials such as cloth napkins or paper, plastic or silk flowers, for example, are frequently found at or near the food service area and these materials have been known to ignite when exposed to the open flame used to heat a chafing dish. Moreover, the fuel based heat sources typically used with chafing dishes can be difficult to use under certain conditions. In outdoor settings, for example, an open flame can be easily extinguished by exposure to only a moderate breeze. Hence, the use of these fuel based heat sources has always required constant vigilance to ensure that the flame has not been extinguished or the fuel depleted. The failure to constantly monitor the heat source can lead to the food items being served in a cold condition and, can present health problems if bacteria is allowed to grow to levels which exceed safety limits.
In light of the shortcomings of commercially available fuels for use in the food services industry, it would be desirable to provide a chafing dish with a heat source which could be maintained at a desired temperature while simultaneously avoiding the problems of fuel depletion, safety, and difficulty of use. Most preferably, it would be desirable to provide a chafing dish which could be maintained at a desired temperature and which avoids the use of conventional commercially available combustible fuels. It would also be desirable to provide a portable chafing dish heating unit which can be placed within the conventional frame of a chafing dish stand and wherein the portable heating unit is constructed to be self adjusting and capable of maintaining a heating element adjacent to the bottom of the chafing dish pan to provide adequate heating of the food items within the dish.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a chafing dish having a portable electric heating assembly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable electric heating assembly for a chafing dish which is easy to operate and which can deliver heat in a consistent manner for long periods of time without constant monitoring by personnel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a chafing dish having a portable electric heating assembly which can be used both indoors as well as outdoors and which is relatively inexpensive in its operation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a chafing dish and a portable electric heating assembly which is stackable as well as safe to use.
The present invention achieves the aforementioned objects by providing a portable food warmer/server in the form of a chafing dish and a portable electric heating assembly to safely and efficiently maintain the chafing dish at a desired temperature. The portable heating assembly includes an electric heating element which overcomes the problems associated with the use of the above-mentioned conventional fuels. The heating element is capable of providing and maintaining an elevated temperature which is sufficient for both warming food within the chafing dish and for preventing bacterial growth. In this manner, the invention provides both safety and efficiency to the food warming process. The chafing dish includes a pair of nestable thermally conductive pans held in a frame or a support member. The portable heating assembly includes a rack or stand and a heating element carried on the rack. The heating assembly is detachably mounted to the support member and is vertically movable between an upper limit and a lower limit. A biasing means is provided for biasing the heating assembly in its upper limit to ensure that the heating assembly is properly positioned near the bottom of a pan held in the support member. The food warmer/server of the invention may be used indoors as well as outdoors and would make a desirable addition to a household kitchen. It is also contemplated that the invention could be used in a commercial setting as a supplement to a steam table, for example.
For a complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to embodiments illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawings and described below by way of example. It should be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein, but is defined by the appended claims.